Friday, June 10, 2016

1 Kings 19: 9A, 11-16

At the mountain of God, Horeb,
Elijah came to a cave, where he took shelter.
But the word of the LORD came to him,
“Go outside and stand on the mountain before the LORD;
the LORD will be passing by.”
A strong and heavy wind was rending the mountains
and crushing rocks before the LORD—
but the LORD was not in the wind.
After the wind there was an earthquake—
but the LORD was not in the earthquake.
After the earthquake there was fire—
but the LORD was not in the fire.
After the fire there was a tiny whispering sound.
When he heard this,
Elijah hid his face in his cloak
and went and stood at the entrance of the cave.
A voice said to him, “Elijah, why are you here?”
He replied, “I have been most zealous for the LORD,
the God of hosts.
But the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant,
torn down your altars,
and put your prophets to the sword.
I alone am left, and they seek to take my life.”
The LORD said to him,
“Go, take the road back to the desert near Damascus.
When you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as king of Aram.
Then you shall anoint Jehu, son of Nimshi, as king of Israel,
and Elisha, son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah,
as prophet to succeed you.”

“But the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to the sword.”

Are we really all that far removed from Old Testament times? Have we not forsaken our covenant? Are we not closing down our churches for lack of attendance and persecuting those religious? The Old Testament is the story of God’s walk with Israel. It is the story of covenant fidelity and adultery. God creates man and says, “I am your God, you are my people.”

When things are good we turn from the Lord and we break covenant with him. This always leads to things going wrong. Then, in despair, the people turn back to God for help. Help us Lord! Don’t turn a blind eye on your children!

And the Lord in his infinite mercy takes us back. He forgives us our transgressions. He loves us. “I am your God, you are my people.” And we stay with the Lord for a time until things are good again. Then we drift away. The nineteenth century saw the world in the throws of war, depression, famine, and despair. Churches were packed. Confession lines were long. We were in covenant fidelity.

The twentieth and now twenty-first centuries have been prosperous for the most part. We have been adulterous to our covenant. Whom do we commit adultery with? None other than Satan himself. We leave the Lord for the temptations of the devil. We give in to selfish desire. We focus on the self over the other.

The Lord did not come to Elijah in the thundering wind, the trembling earthquake, or the blazing inferno. The Lord came to Elijah in a tiny, whispering sound. A still, small voice. That is how the Lord speaks to each of us – through a still, small voice.

Knowing this the devil does all he can to fill every moment of our lives with noise, loud noise. Emails, cell phones, games, Facebook, all the distractions of the day. Each seemingly important in their own right. All nothing more than loud distractions meant to take and hold our attention every waking moment of the day.

God never stopped speaking to us. We stopped listening. We fill our time with utter nonsense and never take time to be alone with God. If we bother to pray anymore our prayers resemble nothing more than mental emails demanding the Lord fill our request as if he were the great Amazon in the sky. We hit send and never look for the return email.

History has repeated itself over and over and over again. It will continue to repeat itself. We can look to history to see where this road we are on is leading. Rome is primed to burn. Nineveh is on the brink of destruction. Let me be Jonah. Here my voice. Repent for the day of the Lord is at hand. The Ninevites heard the voice of Jonah, repented, and were saved. Will we be or will we burn like Rome?

The Lord is waiting and wanting to speak to you. Are you willing to listen? Can you carve out even just fifteen minutes today to be with the Lord? You will be amazed at just how difficult it is to sit in a room alone and just be with the Lord even for as little as five minutes. The devil will throw every distraction he can at you to get you to walk away. Be persistent. It is like any exercise. What is seemingly impossible at first will become a habit that is missed when it cannot be performed. Work towards spending an hour a day with the Lord. You will be surprised at how productive the rest of your day becomes when you start to spend time alone with God.